On September 25, 2013 (six days prior to the game) Texas A&M announced that it would once again become conference mates with Arkansas, by joining the Southeastern Conference as a full member beginning in 2012.

Near the end of the game, Arkansas fans acknowledged A&M's announcement by appearing on the Cowboys Stadium jumbotron with a large sign saying "Welcome to the SEC".

Arkansas and Kansas State met for the first time in postseason and for the fifth time overall. The Razorbacks netted their first Cotton Bowl Classic win since 2000. The 2012 Cotton Bowl was the only non-BCS bowl that featured two Top 10 opponents.

1.
Arkansas Razorbacks football
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The Arkansas Razorbacks football program represents the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the sport of American football. The Razorbacks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the program has 13 conference championships,45 All-Americans, and an all-time record of 700–475–40. The Razorbacks are the 23rd-most successful team in football history by number of wins. Home games are played at locations near the two largest campuses of the University of Arkansas System, Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, the Arkansas Razorbacks have 84 active NFL players currently in the 2015 NFL Season. The first University of Arkansas football team was formed in 1894 and coached by John Futrall and that team played three games, two against Fort Smith High School and one against Texas. Before the 1909 season, the teams was called the Arkansas Cardinals, the name and mascot changed following the 1909 season when the football team, coached by Hugo Bezdek, finished 7–0. Arkansas prevailed over powerhouses Oklahoma, LSU and Washington of St. Louis in 1909 and it was with the help of Steve Creekmore that this was accomplished. Creekmore became perhaps the first Razorback star, a quarterback from Van Buren who initially played only intramurals, Bezdek used Creekmore to install a very early edition of the hurry-up offense, as the team never huddled and chased the ball after every play. Creekmore was also known for fast and slippery running, blocking, there are differing stories about the origins of the Razorbacks mascot, however. The Texarkana Arkansas High School mascot and athletic emblem is the Razorback with red, the Razorback mascot was selected in 1910 to replace the Cardinal as the University of Arkansas mascot. In exchange for its use, the university provided used athletic gear to Texarkana Arkansas High, this practice is no longer used. With the new name and mascot, the Hogs defeated LSU 51–0 and gave Texas A&M their only loss in 1910, in 1913, Arkansas quarterback J. L. Carter and the Razorbacks lost to Ole Miss, and took a fateful train to Arkadelphia to play Ouachita Baptist. While Carter was eating, he was invited to a meeting of Ouachita boosters and he transferred and defeated Arkansas 15–9 in 1914. The Hogs would be contacted by L. Theo Bellmont in 1913 in his attempt to create a conference to regulate use of ringers. Hugo Bezdek, since replaced by E. T. Pickering, had recommended that the Hogs join a conference before he left to coach at Oregon, the Razorbacks joined the Southwest Conference as charter members in 1915. The conference also included teams from Texas and Oklahoma, southwestern would also join, but leave the following year. The 1916,1917, and 1919 teams were led at quarterback by Arkansas greatest athlete Gene Davidson, the Razorbacks didnt have a winning conference record until 1920, and didnt win the conference championship until 1936. Arkansas had the best record during the 1933 season, but had to forfeit the SWC Championship because Ulysses Heine Schleuter, Schleuter had told coach Fred Thomsen that he was eligible, but he was recognized by an SMU player during the game as a former Cornhusker

2.
Spread offense
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Spread offense may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball. The spread offense is a scheme in American and Canadian football that is used at every level of the game including professional, college. Spread offenses typically place the quarterback in the formation, and spread the defense horizontally using three-, four-. Many spread offenses also employ a no-huddle approach, some implementations of the spread also feature wide splits between the offensive linemen. Many spread offenses use the read option running play to put pressure on sides of the defense. Spread offenses also leverage vertical passing routes to spread the defense vertically, the grandfather of the spread offense is Rusty Russell, a graduate of Howard Payne University, in Brownwood, Texas, and coach of Fort Worths Masonic Home and School for orphaned boys. Russell began coaching Masonic Home in 1927, and due to the fact that his teams were often over-matched physically by other schools, while there, he deployed the earliest form of a spread offense to great success. Russells team is the subject of a book by author Jim Dent entitled, Twelve Mighty Orphans, meyers book introduced the spread to the college game. Leo “Dutch” Meyer, who inspired Don Coryell among others, wrote about his theories for football offenses and that in turn created natural holes in the line and seams in the defensive secondary. Spreading out the defense reduced the need for power blocking by undersized linemen, the ball came in a direct snap to the tailback, and out of that formation Meyer created confusion with handoffs, fake handoffs, and pivots that slowed the defensive rush to the ball…. Under Fletchers newly created offense, quarterback George Bork led the nation in total offense, the football played at the dawn of the 1970s generally featured hard running, ball control football, accented occasionally on third and long by a pass out of a stationary pocket. You can catch the ball, you can throw it incomplete, few examples of coaches with successful, innovative passing offenses existed at any level of competition in late 1969. But not even the most inventive coach operates in a vacuum and he certainly relied on the work of Glenn “Tiger” Ellison. In his book, Ellison describes his experiments with the “departure into insanity” Lonesome Polecat sandlot-style formation in a successful attempt to avoid a losing season in 1958. The quarterback was encouraged to scramble and to find open receivers. ”The initial success of the Lonesome Polecat led Ellison to several years of more successful tinkering with what came to be known as the “Run and Shoot Offense. ”Ellison’s “Run and Shoot” experiment evolved into a double-slot formation with “split ends uniformly 17 yards from the ball. The offense used motion and receivers changing pass routes based on the reactions of defenders, Ellison’s offense clearly served as the most important inspiration and the foundation for Neumeier. But Neumeier then took Ellison’s ideas and synthesized something even more innovative than the “Run, another piece of the puzzle Neumeier assembled preparing for the 1970 season came from Red Hickey during Hickeys stint coaching the San Francisco 49ers. Hickey first utilized the shotgun formation in a 1960 NFL game against the Baltimore Colts, Hickey thought it might help to slow the Colt pass rush and give the 49ers quarterback another second or two to spot his receivers

3.
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
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The stadium was formerly known as Razorback Stadium since 1941 before being renamed in 2001 in honor of Donald W. Reynolds, an American businessman and philanthropist. The playing field in the stadium is named the Frank Broyles Field, honoring former Arkansas head football coach, Razorback Stadium increased the seating capacity from 50,019 to 72,000 during the 2000-2001 renovations. Before 1938, the Razorbacks played in a 300-seat stadium built in 1901 on land on top of The Hill, which is now occupied by Mullins Library and the Fine Arts Center. The new stadium cost approximately $492,000 and was funded by the Works Progress Administration, the stadium opened for the 1938 football season as University Stadium, holding a capacity of 13,500 spectators. In the home opener for the Razorbacks, the Razorbacks defeated Oklahoma A&M by a score of 27–7 on September 24,1938. The following week, Arkansas dedicated the stadium to then sitting Arkansas Governor Carl E. Bailey on October 3,1938, following Governor Baileys defeat in the 1940 gubernatorial election to Homer Martin Adkins, the stadiums name was changed in 1941 to Razorback Stadium. Broyles awarded the contract to Heery International with local support from the Wittenberg, DeLoney. The renovation was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. What was then the largest LED display in a sports venue, the expansion was completed before the beginning of the 2001 football season, increasing the permanent seating capacity to 72,000 from its previous capacity of 51,000 seats. 4,000 bleacher seats were added in the end zone upper deck bringing capacity to just over 76,000 with the new expansion. In honor of the Reynolds Foundations generosity, the stadium was formally renamed Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on September 8,2001, where Arkansas lost to Tennessee by a score of 13–3. On November 3,2007, the date of the last Fayetteville home game of the 2007 football season, a major renovation to the stadium was proposed in 2011 by Athletic Director Jeff Long, unveiling the plans to enclose the north end zone. The proposed renovation is estimated at $78 million to $95 million, a new upgrade to the stadium for the 2012 season increased the size to 38 by 167 feet, from the previous LED screen size of 30 by 107 feet. The upgrade was contracted through LSI Industries, since 1948, home games were divided between two venues, Razorback Stadium and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. Athletic director Frank Broyles wanted to move all games to Razorback Stadium to help pay off the $30 million bond that was to be used for expanding and renovating the stadium in 1999. Broyles pointed out that the expanded Razorback Stadium would increase revenue to $3 million per game compared to the $2 million per game for playing at War Memorial Stadium. However, Little Rock investors did not like the idea of moving all home games to Fayetteville and countered with an offer to renovate, also, Little Rock investor Warren Stephens threatened to discontinue his familys support for the program if games were pulled from Little Rock. After listening to both Chuck Neinas and Stephens in January 2000, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted 9-1 to sign a contract with the owners of War Memorial Stadium

4.
2010 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
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The 2010 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played five games at Razorback Stadium and two home games at War Memorial Stadium. Coach Bobby Petrino was in his year with the Razorbacks. They were members of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference, the Razorbacks finished the season 10–2, 6–2 in SEC play and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl, their first major bowl appearance in two decades, where they were defeated by Ohio State 26–31. However, Ohio State later vacated all of their 2010 season victories due to an NCAA violation involving improper benefits to some of their players, quarterback Ryan Mallett had successful offseason surgery on a broken left foot. The injury occurred during a drill, and will keep the Texarkana native out of spring drills. Sophomore defensive backs David Gordon and Hunter Miller were arrested on April 26 for possession of drugs, offensive tackle DeMarcus Love was named to the Outland Trophy watchlist, and Ryan Mallett was named the frontronner for the Davey OBrien Award by The Sporting News. Mallett and tight end D. J. Williams also have named to numerous preseason All-American teams. Earning All-SEC honors include Joe Adams, Greg Childs, Wade Grayson, DeMarcus Love, Jerry Franklin, Jake Bequette, DeQuinta Jones, coach Bobby Petrino, Mallett, Williams, and back-up quarterback Tyler Wilson all appeared on ESPNs College Football Live. Wide receiver Carlton Salters left the team on July 12 in order to pursue his professional baseball career. ‡ New Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Attendance Record NOTE, Arkansas loss in the Sugar Bowl remains a loss in the records. The Arkansas defense recorded a safety on the ensuing TTU possession, Arkansas running back Broderick Green leaped in for another Razorbacks score, making the lead 16–3 for Arkansas. The Razorbacks would also add an 85-yard scoring pass from quarterback Ryan Mallett to Joe Adams before halftime, the Hogs came out strong in the second half, with Ronnie Wingo scoring another Razorbacks touchdown on the ground. Mallett began to click with his receivers at this point, finding Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas did not punt in the contest, and won easily 44–3. This was the first time under Bobby Petrino that the Hogs kept an opponent without a touchdown, Ryan Mallett threw for four hundred yards for the third time in his career, and Greg Childs had twelve catches as Arkansas offense rallied in the second half to finish the Warhawks. The Razorbacks offense looked lethargic in the first half, but the Arkansas defense was stout, the first score of the game came in the first quarter, Greg Childs hauling in a 19-yard touchdown pass From Ryan Mallett. Neither team would dent the scoreboard again until the third quarter, rudell Crim of Arkansas intercepted a pass, and the Hogs would drive for five minutes resulting Zach Hockers first career field goal as a Razorback. Childs would again catch a Mallett touchdown pass, diving into the end zone to make the score 24–0, at this point, Louisiana-Monroe would string a drive together and connect on a Luther Ambrose 25 yard touchdown reception from Kolton Browning

5.
2011 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2011 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their seven games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The teams head coach was James Franklin, who was in his first year at Vanderbilt, hired at Vanderbilt on December 17,2010, he was previously the offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting at the University of Maryland. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference since the inception in 1932. Vanderbilt completed the 2011 regular season with an record of 6–6. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Cincinnati 24–31 to finish the season 6–7, the seniors on the 2011 Vanderbilt football team became the first class in program history to qualify for a bowl game twice. Vanderbilt had been to bowls in 1955 VS Auburn,1974 VS Texas Tech,1982 VS Air Force, at the end of the 2010 season, head coach Robbie Caldwell resigned from Vanderbilt. Franklin proceeded to hire John Donovan as the new offensive coordinator, on February 2,2011, Franklin announced a football recruiting class of 21 athletes. Lafonte Thourogood and Dillon van der Wal were both rated as four star recruits by Scout. com and this game marked the first meeting between these schools. This was the meeting between these schools. Vandy holds a lead in the series at 2 wins to 1 loss. One of college footballs oldest rivalries, Vanderbilt and Old Miss have played 85 times since 1894, Vandy won the first 19 of those games, and Ole Miss did not score in the first ten games. Vandy trails at 37–47–2 Vandy won last game 30–7, Vandy first played USC in 1961, but they did not play each other again until 1992. They have played each year since, with Vandy losing the first seven games, Vandy trails the overall series 4–16, and USC has won the last two games. The score of the most recent game was 3–21 in favor of South Carolina, Vandy has played Alabama 78 times since 1903. Vandy won the first five games, but have won ten more times since. Vandy trails the all-time series 15–59–4, Alabama has won the last 20 games. They last played in 2007, with the result a 10–24 Alabama win, Vandy has been playing Georgia almost every year since 1893

6.
2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
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The 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Crimson Tides 117th overall and 78th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference, the team was led by head coach Nick Saban, in his fifth year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of wins and one loss. After the completion of the 2010 season, the Crimson Tide signed a highly rated recruiting class in February 2011, however, Alabama lost to the LSU Tigers in their regular season matchup, and as a result did not qualify for the 2011 SEC Championship Game. In the rematch against LSU, the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 21–0 to capture their second BCS Championship in three years. At the conclusion of the season, the Alabama defense led the nation in every statistical category. Additionally, several players were recognized for the accomplishments on the field. Also, seven players were named to various All-America Teams with Donta Hightower being a selection and Mark Barron, Jones. In April 2012, eight members of the 2011 squad were selected in the NFL Draft, however, they finished with a 49–7 victory in the 2011 Capital One Bowl against Michigan State, and secured Alabamas third straight ten-win season and their third bowl win in four seasons. In February 2011, Alabama signed the No.1 recruiting class according to Rivals, Spring practice began on March 21 and concluded with the annual A-Day game on April 16. Televised live by ESPNU, the Crimson team of offensive starters defeated the White team of defensive starters by a score of 14–10 before 92,310 fans in Bryant–Denny Stadium. For their performances, Barrett Jones earned the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the A-Day Game Award, in the weeks after the conclusion of spring practice, a pair of tragedies occurred that directly impacted the team. On April 27,2011, an EF4 rated tornado devastated Tuscaloosa, as a result of the storm, long snapper Carson Tinker suffered a broken wrist with his girlfriend being one of the 43 fatalities attributed to the storm in Tuscaloosa. On May 12,2011, offensive lineman Aaron Douglas was found dead in Fernandina Beach, the cause of death was subsequently ruled accidental as a result of multiple drug toxicity. After transferring to Alabama from Arizona Western College, Douglas struggled with issues including a DUI charge following a December 2010 arrest. He started his career as a freshman All-America at Tennessee, before the Volunteers new head coach Derek Dooley granted him a release from the program in Spring 2010, by August, Alabama had a combined 31 players on 12 different preseason award watch lists. Between the conclusion of the 2010 season and the beginning of practice in August 2011. Those who transferred included Robby Green, B. J. Scott, Demetrius Goode, Petey Smith, Brandon Moore, Corey Grant, Alabama head coach Nick Saban entered his fifth year as the Crimson Tides head coach for the 2011 season

7.
University of Arkansas
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The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university in Fayetteville, in the U. S. state of Arkansas. More than 26,000 students are enrolled in over 188 undergraduate, graduate and it is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with highest research activity. Founded as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871, its present name was adopted in 1899 and it is noted for its strong architecture, agriculture, business, communication disorders, creative writing, history, law, and Middle Eastern studies programs. Enrollment for the semester of 2014 was 26,237. Academic programs are in excess of 200, the ratio of students to faculty is approximately 19,1. The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871 on the site of a farm that overlooked the Ozark Mountains. The university was established under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, the universitys founding also satisfied the provision in the Arkansas Constitution of 1868 that the General Assembly was to establish and maintain a State University. Bids from state towns and counties determined the universitys location, the citizens of Fayetteville and Washington County. Pledged $130,000 toward securing the university, a sum that proved to be more than other offers, classes started on January 22,1872. Completed in 1875, Old Main, a brick building designed in the Second Empire style, was the primary instructional. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its design was based on the plans for the main academic building at the University of Illinois, which has since been demolished. However, the clock and bell towers were switched at Arkansas, the northern taller tower is the bell tower, and the southern shorter tower is the clock tower. One legend for the switch is that the taller tower was put to the north as a reminder of the Union victory during the Civil War. A second legend is that the contractor accidentally swapped the tower drawings after having had too much to drink, although the southern tower was designed with clock faces, it never held a working clock until October 2005. The bell tower has always had some type of chime, initially a bell that was rung on the hour by student volunteers, electronic chimes were installed in 1959. In addition to the chimes of the clock, the universitys Alma Mater plays at 5 pm every day. Old Main housed many of the earliest classes at the university, the lawn at Old Main serves as an arboretum, with many of the trees native to the state of Arkansas found on the lawn. Sitting at the edge of the lawn is Spoofers Stone, a place for couples to meet, students play soccer, cricket and touch football on the lawns open green

8.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
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Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama. Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, Tuscaloosa is the regional center of industry, commerce, healthcare, and education for the area of west-central Alabama known as West Alabama. It is the city of the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area. Tuscaloosa is also the home of The University of Alabama, Stillman College, Tuscaloosa has been traditionally known as the Druid City because of the numerous water oaks planted in its downtown streets since the 1840s. The city has become well known nationally for the University of Alabamas success in sports. City leaders adopted the moniker The City of Champions after the Alabama Crimson Tide football team won the BCS National Championship in their 2009,2011, the Tide then went on to win the College Football Playoff in the 2015 season. In 2008, the City of Tuscaloosa hosted the USA Olympic Triathlon trials for the Beijing Games, nearly 12,000 years ago, Native Americans or Paleo-Indians arrived in what today is referred to as the Deep South. Paleo-Indians in the South were hunter-gatherers who pursued the megafauna that became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene age, after thousands of years, the Paleo-Indians developed a rich and complex agricultural society. Archaeologists called these people the Mississippians of the Mississippian culture, they were Mound Builders, descendant Native American tribes include the Creek. In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected president of the United States and he had gained popularity when he defeated the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, following victories in the War of 1812. He long proposed Indian removal to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, Jackson abandoned the policy of his predecessors of treating different Indian groups as separate nations. Instead, he pursued plans to move all Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River. Most Muscogee-speaking peoples were removed to Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears in 1834, some Muscogee in Alabama live near Poarch Creek Reservation in Atmore. The pace of settlement in the Southeast increased greatly after the War of 1812. In 1817, Alabama became a territory, and on December 13,1819, from 1826 to 1846, Tuscaloosa was the capital of Alabama. During this period, in 1831, the University of Alabama was established, the towns population and economy grew rapidly until the departure of the capital to Montgomery caused a rapid decline in population. Establishment of the Bryce State Hospital for the Insane in Tuscaloosa in the 1850s helped restore the citys fortunes, during the Civil War following Alabamas secession from the Union, several thousand men from Tuscaloosa fought in the Confederate armies. During the last weeks of the War, a brigade of Union troops raiding the city burned the campus of the university, the larger town was also damaged in the battle and shared fully in the Souths economic sufferings which followed the defeat

9.
AT&T Stadium
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AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and was completed on May 27,2009 and it is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic. It replaced the partially covered Texas Stadium, which served as the Cowboys home from 1971 through the 2008 season, the stadium is sometimes referred to as Jerrys World after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who originally envisioned it as a large entertainment mecca. The stadium seats 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity, the maximum capacity of the stadium with standing room is 105,000. The record attendance for an NFL game was set in 2009 with a crowd of 105,121, the Party Pass sections are behind seats in each end zone and on a series of six elevated platforms connected by stairways. It also has the worlds 24th largest high definition video screen, originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadiums current construction cost was $1.15 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million in bonds as funding, also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million loan, following its policy for facilitating financing for the construction of new stadiums. A pair of nearly 300 ft -tall arches spans the length of the stadium dome and it also houses a center-hung Mitsubishi video display board that was the largest high-definition television screen in the world at the time of their installation. It has since surpassed in size by the Panasonic Big Hoss video board at Texas Motor Speedway. Glass doors, allowing each end zone to be opened, were designed and constructed by Dallas-based Haley-Greer glass systems, the retractable roof was designed by structural engineering firm Walter P Moore and the systems were implemented by mechanization consultants Uni-Systems. The electrification of Cowboys Stadiums retractable roof was developed by VAHLE and these Kinetic Architecture fundamentals will be employed in order to create quick conversions of the facility to accommodate a variety of events. When the design was unveiled on December 12,2006, it showed that, from inside the stadium. However, it can be covered by the roof panel to protect against the elements. A Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame is planned for the Hall of Fame level, the drawings also include a site for a large sculpture northeast of the stadium, close to Randol Mill Road. Attorney Bob Cohen, who is representing some of the property owners and it is claimed that the stadium uses more electricity than the whole of Liberia. 1997–2000, The Cowboys hold preliminary talks with Arlington officials about building a stadium there, the team also publicly discusses a $260 million plan to upgrade Texas Stadium. In 2000, the Cowboys compile a list of potential sites, which include Grapevine, Coppell. The team continues negotiating with Irving to renovate Texas Stadium,2001, Jones says Arlington is a leading contender for a $500 million stadium